


Meet the Parents

by sentimental_boy



Series: Matt Murdock imagines [34]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Awkward Conversations, F/M, your family doesn't know how to talk to matt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-01-27
Packaged: 2018-05-16 18:13:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5835781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sentimental_boy/pseuds/sentimental_boy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One very awkward family meeting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meet the Parents

You’re sitting across from Matt at a diner, eating your fries when he decides to bring up an important topic.

“So we’re coming up on a year now.” Matt starts.

“Wow. That’s crazy, isn’t it?”

He nods. “It doesn’t seem like we’ve been together that long, but at the same time I feel like I’ve known you forever. I don’t know, does that make sense?”

“It does.”

“You know, I still haven’t met your family.”

You should’ve been expecting that, but you weren’t. “That’s true.” You state.

“Can I?”

You don’t respond right away.

“What is it y/n? The few times I’ve hinted at it before, you brushed me off. Are you ashamed of me or something?”

“Oh Matt, no. It’s not that at all. I’m more worried about you meeting my family than my family meeting you.”

“Why?”

“My family is judgmental. They don’t approve of our out of wedlock situation.”

“Oh.”

“If you still want to meet them though, we can set up a dinner or something.”

He chuckles. “It’s going to take more than that to dissuade me. I want to know where you came from.”

“Okay, you remember that this was your idea though."

“Come on, it can’t be that bad.”

“I hope you’re right. This will be the first time I’ve brought anyone home, so I have no idea how it’s going to go.”

He smirks. “I’m really the first?”

“Yeah, no one’s pushed it before and I’ve never been too eager for that conversation. In case you couldn’t tell.”

“Well thank you for doing this; for me.”

-0-

You sigh as you turn off the car. “Disclaimer: the opinions and statements made by my family in no way reflect the views of myself.”

He smiles and leans in to kiss you. “I appreciate that you’re doing this.”

“I appreciate that you appreciate it.” You get out of the car and take his hand that’s not holding his walking stick. “You ready?”

“I’ve been ready, but you’re starting to freak me out with all the disclaimers.”

“I’m just not looking forward to my family asking what your intentions are. I hate that discussion, you know? I’m capable of choosing who I want to be with, for whatever reason we’re together. It’s none of their goddamn business.”

He squeezes your hand. “It’ll be okay.”

“I feel like I should be telling you that.”

“Come on, let’s go inside.” He prompts.

With that, you lead Matt to the door and knock. Your family greet's Matt with impersonal handshakes. You immediately note the contrast between this and when your family met your brother-in-law. They bombarded him with warm hugs before he even uttered a word. Off to a great start.

Matt senses your stress and runs his hand along your back.

After everyone has said hello, you take Matt’s hand again and lead him to the sofa. Your mom just stares at the two of you for a minute.

“Matt? Are you blind?”

“Uh, yeah. Did y/n forget to mention that?” He chuckles.

“She did. In fact, we haven’t heard much about you at all.”

“Okay, I’m a partner at a law firm-”

“How does that work since you’re… you know.” Your mom asks.

“Since I'm blind? I can get case files in braille.”

“So what about your family Matt? We could’ve made one big day out of it.”

“My mom left when I was young, and my dad died when I was 10. The closest thing I have to family is my best friend Foggy. And now your daughter too.” He runs his hand along your back. 

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

He shakes his head. “That was 20 years ago.”

“Okay, so what else is there to know about Matt Murdock?”

“I'm Catholic, I was raised by nuns after my dad died. Those are the main points of my back story.”

“So what are your intentions with our daughter?" 

“And there it is.” You mumble.

"I assure you, I love your daughter. Her well being is my topo priority."

"Where do you see your relationship in a year?” Your father asks.

Matt squeezes your hand. “We’re happy together, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.”

“That's not an answer.”

“It's the only one I have right now.”

“Should I be worried?”

He shakes his head. “Your little girl is all grown up now, she knows what she wants.”

“You’re trying to tell me that neither of you has started wondering what you’re doing together after a year?”

“If you must know dad,” you start. “I don’t want to get married. We’ve talked about it and it’s not something I see myself being ready for in the near future.”

“So you’re just playing around?” Your mom asks. “People don’t usually bring their boytoys around to meet the parents.”

Matt raises his eyebrows, but you speak up before he says anything. “That’s not what this is. I brought a guy to meet you guys despite the fact that I knew you would judge me. I wouldn’t have brought him here if we weren’t in a committed relationship.”

“So why don’t you get married? If you’re in love what’s the difference?”

“Exactly. It’s a piece of paper. You know, if you were going to be like this you could’ve just told us not to come.” Everyone falls silent. “Now can we have a civil conversation or are you going to keep interrogating my boyfriend?”

“Oh y/n, you always have to blow everything out of proportion.”

“I’ll take that as a no. It was so nice seeing you guys again.” You take Matt’s hand and stand.

“Y/n, Matt, wait.” Your sister says.

“What?”

“Please stay, let’s try this again.”

You take a breath to calm yourself. “Matt, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

“It’s okay.” He addresses the rest of the room. “I want this to go well. I want to get to know the people who raised the woman I love.”

“Thank you.” Your sister says.

“Yeah. So what’s for dinner?” You try to change the subject.

“It’s always about the free food for you, isn’t it?” Your mom chides.

“Would you like me to reimburse you for it? You get out your wallet. What would this cost for Matt and I at a restaurant? $30?”

“Oh put that away.”

“I don’t know what you want from me.”

Your mom shakes her head and walks into the kitchen.

You just look at your sister and she sighs. “I think she was just trying to change to topic to something we can all enjoy mom.”

Your mom rolls her eyes and starts dishing the food. “Y/n, get in here and help me!”

You sigh and turn to give Matt a peck on the cheek. “I’m sorry about all this.” You whisper into his ear.

He shakes his head. “It’s okay. We’ll laugh about it later.”

“I hope you’re right. My sister will watch for any on coming buses ” You squeeze his bicep before heading into the kitchen.

“So he’s blind.” She states.

“Yeah. I should’ve told you, it would’ve been less awkward for everyone.”

She nods. “So you’re in love with him?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry, but aren’t you worried about how he’s going to protect you?”

“What?”

“You live in Hell’s Kitchen. There’s such a high crime rate, what if something happened?”

“That’s why I paid for self defense lessons. I’m not helpless and neither is he, his dad was a boxer. And to say he’s protective is an understatement. You have nothing to worry about. Except for him running the other way after today. I wouldn’t blame him.”

“If he loves you he’s not going to let us scare him off. Anyway, it’s not like you’re getting married, it’s not that big of a deal.”

You nod. “And here I was thinking we were making progress.”

“I just want what’s best for you.”

“Yeah, let’s just get this food on the table.”

You get all the plates to the table and head over to the sofa so you can lead Matt to the table. You seat him between you and your brother-in-law.

“So, Matt. When we were in the kitchen, y/n told me your dad was a boxer.”

“Uh, that’s right. Yeah.”

“So did he teach you what he knew?”

“No. He always wanted me to use my head, not my fists like him. I ended up learning anyway after he died though. Your daughter is safe if that’s what you’re worried about. Not that you had anything to worry about when I wasn’t around. Either she’s great at fighting or she has a terrible trainer.” He jokes but no one laughs.

Matt can sense your blood pressure going up as you stuff your face, trying not to go off on anyone. Matt runs his hand over your thigh until he hears you let out a cleansing breath. You all dig into your food and it’s quiet for a while.

“So, you guys know a bit about me, what about you guys? What was it like raising, and growing up with y/n?” Matt tries to fill the silence.

“She was such a sweet little girl. Even when she got older and we started butt heads over different things, her reasons were always because she cared about people. Misguided as they were, it was sweet.”

Matt smiles. “I see not much has changed there.”

You almost make a joke about him thinking you’re misguided, but you don’t want it to spiral out of control and make things even more awkward.

“Yeah, she likes to put on a tough exterior, but she feels and cares more deeply than most.” Your sister points out.

He reaches for you again. “I know, I see past it.”

“How?” Your brother-in-law asks. “If you don’t mind me asking. It seems like most of that would be visual cues.”

Matt shakes his head. “No, please. To answer your question, I think in this case the lack of visual cues works in my favor. She’s constructed a mask for herself that fools those around her. I can’t see whether she has a mask on or not. Since I was blinded I’ve learned to use my other senses to compensate. When someone touches me, I can feel if they’re genuine or if it’s hollow. Same thing with tone of voice. 

All those things are there, it’s just that seeing is an easy thing to rely on. Most don’t pay as much attention to the other senses.” He tries to stick to what would be true if he was a regular blind person without heightened senses. “She just hasn’t learned how to block me out.”

You squeeze his hand. “And I wouldn’t want to.”

Your sister smiles as she watches you two.

“What?” You ask when you notice her staring.

“I’m just glad you found someone you feel comfortable and safe with. I’ve always worried that whoever you found wouldn’t be able to meet your emotional needs and you wouldn’t see that.”

“That’s sweet. Can we move on? Please?”

“I don’t know, I’m having fun watching you implode as we talk about you and your feelings. What do you think Matt?” Your sister asks.

“I think we’ve made her squirm enough for tonight.”

“Good answer.” You tell him before turning to your sister. “And I thought you were being sweet.”

“I was. That last part was a test. Dinner with the family? Something you don’t agree with is bound to come up, his job is to side with you, not validate your crazy family. He’s your boyfriend, not ours.”

You and Matt laugh, your parents do not.

“Uh. is your mother giving us her death glare you told me about?” Matt leans in and asks you, not making a point to be quiet about it.

“Yes, and you’re not helping right now.” You tell him, but make sure he catches your playful tone. At this point you don’t see how things could get more awkward with him and your parents so you roll with it.

He addresses your parents by name “I’m sorry for contributing to the unease. That being said, she’s right. I might not have put it the way she did, but my first priority is to do right by your daughter. I hope you can understand.”

Your father turns to you. “So our opinion isn’t important to you? Why did you even bring him here?”

“Okay, first of all, I have no idea how you made the jump from what he said to that. And I’d like nothing more than for you guys to like him, that would make my day. I’m not going to throw away a year of happiness and trust if you don’t though. And if you must know, it was his idea. He said hey, I love you and I want to meet your family, see where you come from. I warned him things would get awkward, that this would happen, but he didn’t care. I don’t see what your deal is anyway. After the initial hellos you’ve been grilling him or ignoring him. I can understand protectiveness. Okay, you guys want to look out for me because you think I’m twitterpated. But this is ridiculous.”

“I’m sorry you see it that way. Matt, do you feel we’ve been rude to you?” Your mom asks.

“Uh, I’m sure this is all just a misunderstanding.”

“It’s okay Matthew, you can be honest.” Your father says as he takes a bite.

“I am being honest. I just want tonight to go smoothly. Why don’t we just move on?”

“I think that’s a good idea.” Your brother-in-law says.

“So Matthew, what happened to you, how were you blinded?” Your father asks.

It’s all you can do not to bury your face in your hands. Is that the only thing they know how to talk about? Matt senses your horror and exasperation and runs his hand along your leg, letting you know it’s okay.

“I didn’t eat enough carrots?” He jokes.

Everyone gives a light chuckle. You can’t tell whether it’s genuine, but at least they’re making an effort now.

-0-

By the time you and Matt leave you’re exhausted. You sigh as you get in the drivers seat. “I’m so sorry Matt. That was a disaster.” You let your head fall against the steering wheel.

He runs his hand along your back. “Come on, it picked up toward the end of the night.”

You look at him. “You’re too perfect, you know that?”

He chuckles. “I’m just doing what any good boyfriend would. Come here.” You lean closer to him and he captures your lips in a kiss. “I love you.”

“Still?” You let out a defeated laugh.

“Of course.” He shakes his head. “Are you good to drive?”

“What’s the alternative? Going back in there and asking to stay the night?”

“We could keep each other warm in the back seat.” He pauses. “I didn’t mean that in a naughty way, although…”

You roll your eyes. “Oh yes, that will make them like you more. Not only are you the man I’m living in sin with, but then they wake up to find us together in the back seat with the windows steamed up. I’ll be fine.” You start the car and pull out.

“Do you think that’s the only thing they have against me?”

“Yeah. If we’d done this quote, unquote, the right way, they’d love you. That’s what happened with my sister and her husband. He didn’t have to do anything and everyone loved him because they waited until they got married to do anything. I mean, I don’t have anything against that, it’s just not how I wanted to live my life. It doesn’t mean that I’m any less in love with you or that our relationship is less important. It’s a fucking piece of paper. If we got married or we’d waited, they’d be like leeches. They’d be quizzing you about yourself and asking you to tell stories about us instead of interrogating you.”

“I didn’t know leeches enjoyed quizzing people.”

You smack his bicep with a grin. “You know what I mean.”

“I do. It's okay though. Maybe they'll come around.”

“You don’t have to say that for me.” You pause. “And you know what else? They didn’t even bother to get to know you before bombarding you with blindness 101 questions.”

“Hey, I promise it’s okay. They asked me about my background and family too.” He pauses. “I’m just wondering though, why didn’t you tell them I’m blind?”

You sigh. “I don’t know. When I think of you, I don’t think of my blind boyfriend. I think of your personality traits, your voice, your looks, you.”

He nods. “Are you sure you’re not ashamed to have a blind boyfriend? I heard your mom when you were in the kitchen and she was worrying about how I’d protect you.”

“Oh my god, Matt. No that’s not it. I know better than anyone that should I need help, in any way, you’re going to be the first one there. If I was ashamed of you I would’ve come up with an excuse so you wouldn’t meet my family. Lord knows I’ve done it before. You’re the first person I’ve actually been proud to show off, even if my family doesn’t approve. I just, I don’t know. I didn’t think it was vital information. It doesn’t change who you are as a person.”

He nods. “Okay.”

“I love you Matt.”

He smiles. “I love you too.”

-A few days later-

You’re having a nice evening, relaxing with Matt, when your mom calls. “Ugh, I should get this.” You move from your spot in the crook of his arm to lay across his lap. “Hey mom.”

He nods in silence and starts stroking your hair.

“Hey honey, how are you?” She says from the other end.

Still recovering from the other night you resist the urge to say. “Fine. What’s up?”

“I wanted to talk to you about Matt.”

Matt’s hand stills in your hair.

“What about him?” You reach up to take his hand.

“We were wondering what you see in him. Is it a charity case, because that’s not the reason to be with someone honey.”

“What? why would you think it’s a charity case?”

“I don’t know. He just seemed dull, boring.”

“I can’t believe you. Maybe if you guys bothered to get to know him outside of how he functions as a blind man, he’d be more interesting.” You hang up before sitting up and turning to Matt. “I’m so sorry, you should not have to put up with this."

“I don’t have to. I do it because I love you.”

You lean in and rest your head on his chest. “Still. I wish they were easier to deal with.”

“Well it’s just us right now. I know it’s easier said than done, but don’t worry about it.” He runs his hand along your shoulder.

“Yeah, thanks for being so great about this. It could easily be something we fought over.”

“It’s not your fault, there’s no reason to fight. Maybe they’ll come around, maybe they won’t. I don’t need their approval though. Just yours."

Your only response is to wrap your arms tighter around his waist. As you sit there, you muse on the fact that you may have found the one.


End file.
